The Base Entity for Liberation

 

“‘Good sons! If a good son or daughter cultivates compassion, he or she will attain various liberational portions of all dharmas’ entity.’ Monk Sujātā asked, ‘World-Honored One! What is the meaning of entity?’ ‘Good sons! Entity denotes the body, speech, and mind, which are all attained through expedience. There are two kinds of expedience: hearing and contemplating. However, there are three other kinds: charitable giving, observing precepts, and hearing extensively.’” Sutra on Upāsaka Precepts, Chapter IV

【「善男子！若善男子善女人有修悲者，當知是人得一切法體諸解脫分。」善生言：「世尊！所言體者，云何為體？」「善男子！謂身口意，是身口意從方便得。方便有二：一者耳聞，二者思惟。復有三種：一者惠施，二者持戒，三者多聞。」】優婆塞戒經〈解脫品〉第四

Remarks:

What is the base entity for liberation to be attained from all dharmas (including liberation itself)?  The answer is that the entity relies on the body, speech, and mind. If you do not have a body, speech, or mind to cultivate, you cannot attain the liberational portion from all dharmas. Thus, the existence of the body, speech, and mind enables practitioners to directly observe the state of liberation, to perceive and understand it, to have the wisdom of liberation, and to know the method of entering remainderless nirvana.

The wisdom of liberation and the prajñā of Buddha Bodhi are inseparable from four words: hearing, contemplating, cultivating, and realizing. However, none of these four dharmas can exist independently of the body, speech, and mind. As such, it is said that charitable giving, observing precepts, and hearing extensively are the entity of the body, speech, and mind, which are in turn conducive to the entity of the liberational portion. From this, we know that the realization of the liberational portion relies on hearing, contemplating, and cultivating using the body, speech, and mind. Hence, the body, speech, and mind are conducive to the acquiring of liberation. However, to bring forth the liberational portion of the body, speech, and mind, one must rely on extensive hearing (saddharma) and constant impregnation of saddharma (正法) as such a liberational portion cannot be generated by itself. Therefore, the body, speech, and mind of a liberated person are based on extensive hearing and constant impregnation of the True Dharma as its entity.

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